22 Senate GOPers: ‘Grave concern’ on deportations

More than 20 Senate Republicans penned a letter on Thursday to President Barack Obama, raising “grave concerns” about the administration’s review of immigration law.

Under fire from immigration activists for deportations of undocumented immigrants, Obama announced last month that his Department of Homeland Security will consider whether its immigration policies could be implemented “more humanely within the confines of the law.”

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But that’s raised concern from some immigration hawks that Obama could be overstepping constitutional boundaries on immigration law. The 22 Senate Republicans — representing some of the most conservative — accuse Obama of “incrementally nullifying immigration enforcement” since he took office in 2009, and even warn that the administration is “allowing preventable crimes harming innocent people to take place every day.”

“According to reports, the changes under consideration would represent a near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement and discard the rule of law and the notion that the United States as enforceable borders,” the senators wrote in the letter to Obama, dated Thursday.

“Clearly, the urgent task facing your administration is to improve immigration enforcement, not to look for new ways to weaken it,” added the GOP signers, which include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top GOP senator on the Judiciary Committee; and Roy Blunt of Missouri, the fifth-ranking Senate Republican.

The three-page letter underscores the delicate political dynamics that major executive action on deportations — like the kind that is demanded from liberal activists and the Latino community — could have on Capitol Hill, as well as on immigration reform.

Many Democrats want a broad reprieve from deportations for undocumented immigrants, arguing that the removals by the Obama administration are tearing families apart. But House Republicans argue they can’t pass immigration bills because they don’t trust Obama to enforce them.

No Republican Senate Gang of Eight members — the primary authors of the sweeping immigration reform bill that passed last June — signed the letter, nor did Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who helped broker a major border security deal that secured multiple votes for the bill. His co-author in the “border surge” amendment, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) did endorse Thursday’s letter.

The Republican members of the Gang of Eight are Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

The GOP senators who signed the letter are: McConnell, Grassley, Blunt, Hoeven, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions of Alabama; Tim Scott of South Carolina; Deb Fischer and Mike Johanns of Nebraska; Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee of Utah; Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma; Ted Cruz of Texas; John Boozman of Arkansas; Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia; David Vitter of Louisiana; Mike Crapo and Jim Risch of Idaho; Pat Roberts of Kansas; and Thad Cochran of Mississippi.

“The Secretary has undergone a very rigorous and inclusive process to best inform the review,” DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said in response to the letter. ” From the beginning, the Secretary has included and continues to seek the advice and input from his team within DHS to include the very people that would be charged with implementing the policies. The Secretary has also sought and welcomed the ideas of various stakeholders and Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, which represent a diverse set of views and opinions.”

He added: “The Secretary continues to believe the best way to fix our broken immigration system is through commonsense immigration reform such as the bipartisan bill passed by the Senate last year, and continues to urge members of Congress to follow suit.”